Wednesday, July 16, 2014

House Conservatives Not Gung-Ho on Impeachment

Sorry, Sarah. Not right now. Put your hand away,you look like an idiot. Er...more of an idiot.

High crimes and misdemeanors. That phrase is important, because it was largely ignored back in the late 90s when Congress impeached President Bill Clinton. His "high crime" was to lie about having sex with a woman who was not his wife. In a question that was immaterial to the case. In a case that was later dismissed. It was and remains ridiculous.

Now, I'll acknowledge that lo about seven, eight years ago, I really would like to have seen George W. Bush impeached. At the time, there was a very lengthy list of offenses, the majority of which couldn't even be called a stretch. And even if you don't think so, they certainly hit a higher water mark than did the Lewinsky affair. But, as Nancy Pelosi said, impeachment was off the table.

And now, the hard right--having hated President Obama from his first election day or before, and thwarted in his second--has a similar bottled-up rage. From my vantage point, it's misdirected, viewed through a ideologically distorted prism. Though I don't agree with the President on everything (not big on drones, wish the war was over), the "scandals" he's been through have mostly been nothingburgers, or--funny enough--extensions of Bush Era policies.

But, the red meat base wants impeachment. But you can tell there may be a lot of hot air behind it when they can't seem to agree on a charge. Sarah Palin wants the impeachment to be based on the border crisis, which makes no sense (surprise!). I've seen others that want it to be the IRS "scandal," something that has never implicated Obama, and has fizzled out. I'm sure Darrell Issa would point to Benghazi!!! But what's the crime? If Benghazi a crime, what was 9/11? I mean, come on.

Fortunately, it sounds like Congress isn't really in the mood anyway. Who knows what will happen if the GOP takes the Senate in November (something that wouldn't be possible in a sane world). But for now, sounds like impeachment is off the table.

[Excerpt]Sorry, Sarah Palin: House Conservatives Oppose Impeachment Of ObamaSarah Palin, your wish is not granted.
A panel of the House's staunchest conservatives on Tuesday rebuffed the former Alaska governor when asked about her call last week for impeaching President Barack Obama. Some said impeachment was impractical, some said it would hurt the GOP politically and others cautioned that Obama hasn't committed high crimes and misdemeanors. . .